A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2015
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BERGSTROM:
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stitute teacher assistant and
then was hired four years
later as a temporary, full-
time special education as-
sistant, which later became
a full-time position. Eight
years ago, the physical edu-
cation teacher retired and new
P.E. instructor Todd Sprong
advocated hiring a female
assistant, who would be able
to supervise the girls in their
locker room and help address
their needs. Bergstrom as-
sumed that role.
“Back then, you knew all
of the kids. You knew most of
their parents,” Bergstrom said.
As physical education as-
sistant, she monitors student
attendance, helps with dis-
cipline, helps lead activities
and records physical testing
results on a spreadsheet.
She is also a valuable liai-
son to the girls who may not
feel comfortable discussing
certain things with Sprong,
such as female issues.
“I think I’m more counsel-
or, too, than anything,” Berg-
strom said. “You know, I’m
just there for them. If they
need something, I usually
have it.”
Bergstrom said she enjoys
CENTER:
continued from page A1
ence center while also help-
ing fund the Eastern Ore-
gon Trade and Event Center
when it opens.
Assistant City Manager
Mark Morgan said the city
currently pays the chamber
$64,350 to operate the con-
ference center and about
$25,000 in utilities and in-
surance costs, for a total of
$90,000 each year. After
adding in the revenue gen-
erated by the center, he said
the facility has been operat-
ing with an average net loss
of about $50,000 annually.
Morgan said the city
is committed to paying at
least $50,000 toward the
operation of EOTEC when
it opens in spring of 2016,
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sider whether or not to sub-
sidize two separate event
spaces.
Mayor Dave Drotzmann
said Monday’s decision
was only to extend the sta-
tus quo for now to allow for
further deliberation.
“We’ve had a couple
brief meetings with the
Chamber of Commerce
now to talk about the future
of the Hermiston Confer-
ence Center, and it’s just
still in its infancy stages,”
he said. “We’re still trying
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it was our belief that they
needed a little reassurance
that there was going to be
that aspect of her job.
“Because sometimes they
still need that at this age,” she
said. “The need someone to
help them out.”
Bergstrom said a down-
side of current physical ed-
ucation classes is they are
electives, so not all students
take P.E. On the other hand,
Bergstrom said, the children
who are there generally want
to be there and enjoy coming.
“Here, we see kids in a
different light than the teach-
ers do,” Bergstrom said, add-
ing classroom teachers have
different expectations. “We
want the kids to move and be
active. The kids get to kind of
cut loose with us.”
Of course, Bergstrom said,
students are a lot different
now than they were 25 years
DJR ZKHQ VKH ¿UVW HQWHUHG
the classroom. First, she said,
students are a lot more open
about the kind of things they
say to her and Sprong.
“They share a lot of things
with us that we don’t neces-
sarily want to hear,” she said.
“Too much information. On
the other hand, I’m glad they
share that with us because
we know that we’ve made a
connection that they want to
share with us.”
Of all the jobs she’s had
in the school district, she’s
an opportunity for them to
continue as the operator of
the Hermiston Conference
Center, as they’re trying to
book events at least a year
in advance.”
Councilwoman Jackie
Myers agreed more deliber-
ation is needed to determine
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“There’s a lot of moving
pieces to this, and we just
don’t have a good recom-
mendation for it yet,” she
said. “We need to do a lot
more research and gather
the facts before anybody
can make a good decision
on it.”
enjoyed her current one the
most.
She said she has always
had a good relationship with
Sprong, and they enjoy what
they do.
“We treat each other like
brother and sister,” she said.
She said she and Sprong
laugh all day long and have
fun with the students. She
said they try to arrange activi-
ties students don’t usually get
to participate in during physi-
cal education classes, such as
archery.
“If we’re not having fun as
instructors, then they’re not
having fun,” Bergstrom said.
Sprong said Bergstrom
has been extremely valuable
through the years as an assistant
and working with the students.
“You can’t even put a price
on it,” he said. “She gets ath-
letics and activities, which is
cool.”
He said, while she acts
like a second mother to the
girls, she cares about the boys
just as much, adding she’ll
spend her own money to get
them things they need, such
as shoes. She also will go to
their athletic events.
He said just recently she
attended a few of her students
Little League games and then
congratulated them when she
saw them in class.
“She’ll do anything,”
Sprong said.
Bergstrom said one of the
best parts of her job is seeing
the enjoyment school brings
to students who don’t have a
lot to look forward to at home.
“They’ve made me look
at life a little differently,” she
said.
Bergstrom has also en-
joyed watching her students
grow and seeing them when
they are in high school and in
college, which is rewarding to
her. Occasionally, Bergstrom
said, some of the college stu-
dents come to her house in
the summer and play cards.
Others have children in her
classes.
Bergstrom said, howev-
er, that she has been with the
school district long enough
and is old enough that she
has decided to retire. She
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as Sprong’s assistant, they
agreed they would retire the
same year, and the time has
come.
She said she wants to
spend more time with her
granddaughters, as well as
working in her yard, but she
will miss many aspects of her
job.
“I’m gonna miss the kids
when I retire, that’s for sure,”
she said. “Whoever gets my
job is going to have the best
job ever,” she said.
Chamber of Commerce
Board of Directors Chair-
man Joe Franell said ex-
tending the current contract
will reassure not only the
chamber, but also the mem-
bers of the community who
utilize the center. He said
he appreciated the thought-
ful approach proposed.
“The Chamber of Com-
merce board applauds the
idea of being deliberate
about ‘What do we do with
this facility?’” he said. “...
It’s not a City Council as-
set. It’s a community asset,
and (we applaud) engaging
the community in discus-
sions about ‘What happens
with that? What’s the best
use of that facility? Do we
keep it up? Do we keep
it going? Do we sell it?
Do we repurpose it?’ And
we’re excited to be part of
that discussion.”
Morgan said the city
purchased the entire cur-
rent site for about $550,000
in 1994, and after, a city
committee raised $600,000
from the community for
renovations.
Drotzmann said he re-
spected the time and money
the community has invest-
ed in the “great community
center.” He said, although
the city would research all
options, including selling
the property, the commu-
nity will be involved in the
process.
In other City Council
news, City Attorney Gary
Luisi recommended chang-
es to a proposed contract
to name Anderson Perry &
Associates, La Grande, as
the city’s engineers of re-
cord. The council did not
approve the agreement, and
City Manager Byron Smith
said he would look into
modifying the contract and
bring something back at a
future meeting.
JESSICA KELLER PHOTO
Armand Larive Middle School physical education assistant Michele Berstrom watches as stu-
dents play volleyball during class Tuesday. Bergstrom will end her 25-year career in the Hermis-
WRQ6FKRRO'LVWULFWRQDKLJKQRWH6KHZDVVHOHFWHGDVRQHRIWKHVFKRROGLVWULFW·VFODVVLÀHGHP-
ployees of the year last fall and recently learned she will be honored with a Crystal Apple Award.
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Saturday, April 18, 2015
Hermiston Conference Center
5 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Our Annual Meeting theme “Homegrown”
will recognize an array of products grown
and processed in our local area.
Learn about UEC accomplishments in the
past year, and what we expect in the year ahead.
As always, attendance is free to UEC members.
We hope your will join us!
Featured Speaker
J Judy Hill Lovins of
Aspen Colorado, a
A
fine art photographer
and “homegrown”
native of Hermiston,
will share her life story.
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